Expecting
by MiyaBlack
Summary: Lucia Vargas had the perfect life: she was 25 years old and the editor in chief of a fashion magazine, had a kind and loving boyfriend in Antonio Carreido and a nice apartment in the city, which she shared with her twin sister, Felicia. It was amazing how it all fell down in one fell swoop. (Fem: S. and N. Italy, UK, US, Japan, France) (Spamano; GeraIta; USUK)
1. Chapter 1

Lucia looked at her own reflection in the small mirror. Her eyes looked tired and her hair was a proper mess. Yet it didn't compare to the feelings inside of her. Oh no, that was a completely different and unsettling chaos.  
She wanted to give up and scream out in rage at the same time.  
What else could she do?

The taxi finally stopped in front of her small apartment. With a soft thank you, and after paying her fee, she exited the car.

She started looking for her keys inside her purse as she willed her tears to hold just a bit longer.

Just a bit more.

She fumbled with them as she got them out and tried opening the door but her hands wouldn't stop shaking. "Stop it, goddamnit." she murmured to herself as she finally was able to open the apartment gate. She ran up the stairs, up to the second floor. Just one more door, one more door and she could let go. Just… A small click announced that the door was open.

Felicia sat in front of her canvas, while she held the phone between her ear and her shoulder. "... and then he said they no longer had pasta! Can you believe it, Ludy? I said that there was no such thing as 'no pasta' and then…Welcome back, sissy. I thought you were..." her words died in her mouth as she looked up to see the tumbling figure that had walked into her home.

"Ludy, I'll call you back." she muttered and before her boyfriend could even reply she hung up. Putting down the brush on her hand she quickly ran to where her twin sister had fallen to the floor. "Lucy, are you okay? Why are you home so early? I thought you were having dinner with Antonio and-" at the name, Lucia twitched and started shaking.

"Lucy! Lucy, what's wrong, sorella? Lucia?"

Lucia finally looked up at her sister's honey eyes. Her tears were falling freely now, and she tried opening her mouth to explain, but her voice couldn't go over the knot in her throat.

"Lucia, are you hurt?" Felicia asked, her fear growing every passing second. She took her sister's face on her hands. "What's wrong, please tell me!"

"He.. He…" her voice sounded miserable and pathetic even on her own ears. "A blonde… A fucking blonde."

"Did… Did Antonio… was he with someone else?" Felicia asked.

It sounded so much worse when it was said out loud. And the cry that escaped her lips spoke of her completely crushed heart.

"Oh. Oh. Oh Sissy!" Felicia cried as she held her sister close.

"He wasn't… He didn't even… That BASTARD! He's an ass, Feli, he…" she lost her voice again to sobs and cries.

Felicia carefully picked up her broken sister and dragged her to the sofa. She covered her with the blanket they used when they napped. She kissed Lucia's forehead and held her close, softly rocking her back and forth.

"How could he?!" Lucia cried as she clung to her younger sister. "Am I not pretty enough? Am I too cold? I try, Feli, I swear I do try!"

"It's none of those things, sissy. You are beautiful and kind and loving. And I love you. I love you very much, sissy." Felicia said between sobs. It wasn't good for both of them to cry, but seeing her older sister like this… it broke her heart.

Lucia gasped for air as sobs shook her entire body, and she was about to say something else when someone knocked on their door urgently.

Felicia started getting up when Lucia grabbed her hand to stop her, "Please, d-don't open the door." she begged her. Felicia hesitated for a second, bus she shook her head. "It could be Herakles. He might be worried about us." she said softly as she pried her sister's hands from her shirt. Lucia didn't even look up, and as soon as her sister was out of her grasp, she curled up and covered herself completely.

Felicia stood for a second, looking at her sister worriedly. The knocking came again, snapping her back to reality. She walked to the door and gently opened the door.

Lucia had told her a thousand times to be careful who she opened the door for and that she always should close the chain first. She always warned her. But the younger Vargas girl always forgot, although nothing had ever happened. However, this was one time when she wished she would've heard her sister.

"Feli, is your sister home?" his hair was messed up and his green eyes that were normally smiling were now wide with fear and worry.

Felicia hesitated for a second. "She is… but I don't think she wants to see you right now…." she murmured unhappily, not looking directly at the Spaniard's eyes.

"Felicia please. I have to explain what happened." he begged.

Honey eyes looked up in hope. "Explain what? Was it a misunderstanding?" she asked. Maybe it was. Maybe Antonio was teaching the woman how to close her dress or something like that. If that was the case then maybe Lucia was just overreacting and everything was fine and Antonio still loved her!

Antonio didn't meet her eyes, "Please let me talk to her."

Felicia hesitated, but before she could say anything she felt someone else standing behind her. Oh this was not going to be good.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Lucia's words were dripping with venom and Felicia felt a shiver run down her spine.

While Lucia was often angry, she was seldom furious. And right now, she was beyond that.

Lucia reached up to take the door, pushing her younger sister aside, but Antonio's hand stopped her.

"Please, listen to me, I-"

"WHY SHOULD I EVEN LISTEN TO YOU?! HUH?! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY SAY THAT WOULD MAKE ANYTHING BETTER?!" she yelled, digging her nail on Antonio's hand so he would release her.

He didn't even flinch. "It wasn't what it looked like, I-"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, ANTONIO. SHE HAD HER LEGS AROUND YOUR HIPS. YOU WERE FUCKING HER AGAINST THE WALL. THAT'S IT. THERE'S NOTHING TO EXPLAIN!"

"No, but I-"

Lucia's voice lowered volume, but her tone threatened with serious physical damage. "I swear, with God as my witness, Antonio Carreido, If you dare say that you love me and not her, I am going inside, I'll get a knife, and make sure you have no children. Am I clear?"

"Lucia, please, could you just listen?"

He sounded frustrated.

The bastard sounded frustrated.

Her body reacted before she did, and the loud slap and the red mark on his cheek were proof that she was not kidding.

"You are dead to me." she said finally, spitting on his feet and turned around, shutting the door on his face.

The apartment was quiet for a few seconds. Lucia wouldn't look up and Felicia wouldn't speak up. The sound of slow steps going down the stairs broke the silence and tears started flowing down her face again.

She finally looked up and Felicia opened up her arms with a sad smile in her face. Lucia fell into her sisters embrace.

* * *

_A.N.: I wasn't actually going to update this story, and it sort of became a side project for me while I was finishing Child Services... But I got horribly stuck on that story and this one just started flowing! So, yeah. Hope you enjoyed. _


	2. Chapter 2

It took two gallon sized buckets of pistachio and coffee ice cream and a whole weekend of old Italian movies for Lucia to be functional again. Well, slightly so.

She went to work and came back. She even met several times with Amelia, her best friend, to get some coffee or go shopping.

Felicia, who worked with Antonio, told her that the Spaniard asked after her for the first couple of days and for a second Lucia considered talking with him. Of course, until she learned that Marie, the blond woman, was now living with him.

And one day, Felicia arrived with a small cardboard box. Inside of it, were all of the things she had left in Antonio's home.

"So… This is it." she had murmured, looking down sadly.

"I can talk to him, sissy… If you want me to."

Lucia placed her hand on her sister's head. "Sometimes… Sometimes things end, Felicia. And what Antonio and I had… it ended. That's it." she whispered and locked herself on her room. But that didn't keep the sound of her sobbing from being heard by Felicia.

Lucia was living out of mere reflex and instinct.

The days turned to weeks and the weeks to months.

Before she knew it, three months had gone by. And still her heart would not heal.

A few times she had bumped into Antonio and Marie, or the usurping bitch, as Amelia called her.

"She is bisexual, ya know?" Amelia had once asked, after they had spotted the couple in a coffee as they were out shopping.

"W-what?" Lucia was honestly surprised.

"She used to chase after Alice." Amelia replied, a disgusted grimace on her pretty face.

"Alice? Alice Kirkland? Your Alice?" Lucia asked surprised.

There was no couple as strangely perfect and unbreakable as Alice Kirkland and Amelia Jones. At first Lucia had been reluctant of accepting her friend's choice of life but in the end Amelia was one of the few that really accepted her, flaring Italian temper and all. And they loved each other so much… even if they seemed to spend most of their time annoying each other. And the idea of that little French slut trying to break them apart was almost laughable.

"My Alice." Amelia replied nodding, as she looked at a jacket in a store's window.

"The little slut." Lucia hissed.

"I know. It's like she's one of the villains from those terrible soap operas you watch."

Lucia laughed.

A couple of days later, she walked through her office followed by her assistant, as she did every morning. Her auburn hair rolled up in a neat bun and her black heels clicking in the floor. She had a meeting with one of the prints and another with the designers right after and her mind was running with all she had to do when she froze.

Something was wrong.

"Miss Vargas?" Keiko, her small Japanese assistant asked as her black eyes looked up.

"I… I…" she covered her mouth and, dropping her papers she ran into the nearest bathroom.

"Miss Vargas? Miss? Lucia, are you okay?" Keiko asked worriedly as she knocked on the bathroom's door.

"N-Not very much…" the Italian confessed as she flushed down what used to be her breakfast.

"We could rearrange the important meetings for tomorrow and I can take care of the one with the printers." Keiko suggested as Lucia tumbled out of the bathroom. She splashed her face with cold water, ruining her make up, but at least it made her feel a little bit better.

"Just give me a second, I think I can pull through." she murmured… right before she dashed back into the bathroom stall and emptied whatever was left on her stomach.

She wasn't very happy to see the Volkswagen Passat arrive. She never did like Felicia's boyfriend, and to have both of them pick her up when she was feeling ill only added to her injured pride.

As soon as the car stopped, her sister jumped out and fussed about her. "Are you okay? Do you have fever? Oh, no, it might've been yesterday's carbonara! But I feel fine… Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry, it must've been my fault and-"

"Felicia, could you please.. just… shhh?" Lucia asked with a mix between annoyance and endearment. Felicia smiled apologetically and helped her sister to her feet and into the car, Keiko walking behind them. "Just make sure the print gives us the dates we need. And if they try to get smart with you, remind them that you're my apprentice, and that they'll have to answer to me, okay?" she asked with a soft smile as Keiko seemed a little bit nervous.

"She'll be fine. Keiko is the smartest girl, right?" Felicia asked as she smiled at her best friend.

When Felicia had suggested her as her new assistant, Lucia had been a little bit doubtful, but she had been very glad she had given Keiko the job.

"Give them hell." Lucia encouraged her with a small smile. Keiko quickly nodded and bowed her head. "Oh and if Feliks gives you any problem. Any problem, call me. I'm never too sick to kick his ass back to place, okay?" she reminded her assistant as Felicia climbed into the car again.

"Hai, Miss Vargas." Keiko replied seriously, as if Lucia had just charged her with saving the universe.

"You'll do great, Keiko. Good luck." And with that the car sped off, into the city traffic.

"Potato bastard, is it okay if I throw up in your car?" she asked, slightly grinning. And even from her back seat she could see the tall German man tense up.

Felicia looked back at her, "Sissy, don't tease Luddy!"

"Heh, whatever. Just get me to a pharmacy and home and I will try my best." she replied. She was never too sick to mess with her sister's idiot of a boyfriend, either.

* * *

_A.N.: Second chapter. Uploading them in a row. I just adore the idea of Keiko looking up to Lucia. Weird... but cute!_


	3. Chapter 3

She curled up in her bed, pulling her knees up to her chin, facing the plastic bag she'd acquired in the pharmacy. There was something terrifying inside, and Lucia feared if she put her hand in, she would surely lose it.

It was all because of Felicia. As they were roaming the aisles of the pharmacy, her sister muttered something about period cramps and took some medicine for it. And that's when realization hit her. She hadn't had her period. Not for a while now. Not since…

A very very uncomfortable knot on her stomach tightened. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Yet, she didn't dare to take the small white box from the plastic bag.

She would have to do it sooner or later… But the what if was killing her.

She slowly took out a small white box, as if it was an explosive ready to detonate any second now. She gingerly turned it around to read the instruction. It was absurd, of course. They had… they had been careful. He said he had been, at least.

But maybe he lied.

Maybe he lied as with everything else.

Ooh, how she hated that man.

The yellow light of the bulb seemed surreal as she looked at the small white stick on her hand. A small laugh escaped her lips. "No. It is obviously wrong. Or maybe it's the wrong symbol." she muttered to herself as she desperately reading the instructions for the pregnancy test again.

And again.

And again.

And it didn't change the fact that a small, pink, plus sign was looking up at her.

"FELICIA! WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE PHARMACY!" she screeched as threw the test away and washed her hands.

"Is everything okay, sissy?" her sister's voice asked, right outside the bathroom's door.

"NOW!"

* * *

She had taken five tests. Different brands. Different methods. All the same result.

Oh no.

Oh God.

Felicia was waiting for her to say something, but no words would come out of her lips. She was 25 years old and the editor in chief of a fashion magazine. She couldn't be having a baby.

Yet, she was.

"What do they say, Lucy?" Felicia asked as she gently opened the door, peeking in.

Lucia couldn't even look up at her sister, small tears forming on her eyes. "Have… Have we not suffered enough? Have I not gone through enough?" she asked softly.

Felicia looked at her sister, who was sitting on the floor, looking as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"Can't I get rid of him? Kick him out of my life?" she asked, finally looking back at her sister, as if expecting an answer. "Why must I carry his child?!" her voice was broken, so was she.

Thankfully, it was a Thursday, so Felicia called Keiko to tell her that Lucia wouldn't be able to make it to work tomorrow. Her assistant understood and promised to visit later.

She curled up in the sofa, quiet as a tomb, just looking into empty space. Feli had tried to talk to her and get a reaction. But not even pistachio ice cream was working.

"_You even tried the ice cream?_" Amelia's voice asked Felicia through the phone.

"I tried everything, Amelia. Everything. I even put Miracle in Milan on the TV… she didn't even turn her head."

The American girl considered this in silence. "_Keep it on, she's going to have to look up sooner or later. I'm picking up some pizza from Gio's and coming over._"

* * *

About 30 minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Felicia stood up to open it but stopped suddenly when her sister sat up. "Check who it is before you open." she hissed, her eyes narrowing.

Felicia nodded, and after peeking through the eyepiece, she turned to her sister. "It's Amelia." she said.

"Did you… Did you tell her?" she asked sounding a little hurt. Felicia quickly shook her head. "No. No. I just told her you were a bit down."

"I can hear you two in there! Lucia stop being a dramatic baby and open up!" the American called from outside the door.

And that did the trick.

"A dra… A dramatic baby?!" Lucia jumped up in a fit of fury.

Hormonal or not, at least she was reacting Felicia noted as she quickly backed away, looking amused at how her sister's face turned red for rage.

Lucia flung the door open and pointed a finger at the blond girl behind it but froze in place. "Are… are those?..." she asked softly as she looked at the two boxes Amelia was holding over her head.

"It depends." the American said slyly, a grin on her face.

Lucia doubted for a second but her face soon turned fierce, "Amelia Jones, if those are Gio's pizzas I'm capable and willing to kill for them." she said slowly, fire in her eyes.

Amelia laughed out loud and patted Lucia's head. "They are, and I'm willing to share… but I would like to be invited in first." With a small pout, Lucia stepped to the side and followed the American, but more importantly the pizzas, back into the small dining room.

"They are Italian and Roman and you can have any you like… Only if you tell me what's going on." she said as she looked seriously at her friend.

Lucia thought about it. "Well… I'd be willing to share if I can have one first." she said, suspiciously eyeing the taller girl.

"I want some too!" Felicia chirped appearing from behind her sister.

Amelia laughed. "All right, all right. Eat first, talk later." she agreed as she put the pizza down.

However, as soon as Lucia had her slice in front of her she felt the knot on her stomach tighten.

"Okay. That's enough, sweetie. You have to spit it out. If you can't even eat Gio's it's much worse than I thought."

Lucia looked up at her friend and then turned to her sister. Felicia nodded slightly, encouraging her.

"I… Amelia, promise you won't… You wouldn't think differently of me, right?" she asked, shrinking slightly.

After a small silence Amelia spoke up, "That I wouldn't… Goddamnit, Lucia, of course not! But, what did you do this time?... Do we have to hide a body or what?" she asked half joking. She really hoped it didn't go down to that.

Lucia rolled her eyes and snickered, "Who do you take me for?" she asked, faking offense.

"Italian." Amelia replied without even hesitating.

Lucia considered this a moment and then laughed. "Well, no. I didn't kill anyone… Not yet at least." she added darkly, just to scare Amelia.

The blond laughed, "Come on, just spit it out!"

After a small silence, Lucia lifted her eyes to her friend's blue ones. "I am… well, um… I am pregnant."

Luckily, Amelia hadn't been drinking or eating anything or she would've surely choked. Her blue eyes looked at her surprised, then at Felicia, then back at her.

"You're… but then…the father..."

"That's the real tragedy, see?" Lucia asked with a small and sad smile.

* * *

A few hours, some ice cream and movies later, Amelia and Lucia were curled up in her bed, looking at each other.

Felicia had a date with Ludwig and at first she had hesitated on leaving her sister alone, but Amelia assured her that she would stay with her.

"You sure Alice won't mind?" Lucia asked as she sighed, hugging an old and battered felpa bear closely.

"Yeah. She completely understood. She even offered bringing you some tea later." she said with a small smile.

"For a moment there I thought you would say she was going to bring scones. I may not be a happy ray of sunshine right now, but I don't want to end my life yet." the Italian commented with a slight smirk.

"Oi! Take that back! My darling's cooking is… Well… Yeah… Perhaps it wouldn't be the best for the baby…" Amelia admitted with a slight smile.

"But her tea? Yeah, I would really like that. Tell her I say thanks." she murmured as Amelia tapped into her phone.

"Can I tell her, Lucy? You know… about the baby?" she asked looking up at her friend.

With a deep sigh, Lucia nodded. "I'm going to have to tell everyone eventually… Just please, ask her not to tell anyone. Not even her fairies."

Amelia laughed and typed away. Lucia simply closed her eyes and buried her face on the back of the bear's head.

"That's… that's the one he gave you, isn't it?"

Lucia sighed and looked up once again, "Yeah. He gave it to me when Mama and Papa died."

Amelia's blue eyes softened. "You're keeping it?"

"Of course!" Lucia replied too quickly and almost offended. After a few seconds her body relaxed and her defeated eyes looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh… my…. God…" Amelia muttered as she leaned up on her elbow to look at her friend. "You are still in love with him."

She wanted to jump up and deny it, but it wasn't a question. Amelia knew. Felicia probably did too. "I am pathetic, aren't I?" she asked as she met her friends gaze, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I can't help it Amelia. It's… I don't know… his smile? His voice? No… it's just him." she confessed her smile breaking.

"B-But he cheated on you!" Amelia squeaked, looking incredulously at her friend.

"I know! And I'll never forgive him for that! But imagine… Imagine if Alice did the same. If she cheated on you. You would hate her, for sure. You would be hurt. You would cry yourself to sleep every single night… Because a part of you would always love her. No matter what. You would hate her even more because you would love her still."

And Amelia knew the Italian was right. "But it's not fair." she complained looking sadly at her friend.

"It's not supposed to be." Lucia replied, deflating, unconsciously cradling her belly that had a small bump.

"So… What are you going to do with the baby?" Amelia asked looking at her friend's gestures.

"I have no fucking damned idea." the Italian confessed, covering her face with the old teddy bear.

"Would you… Would you abort it?"

"Heavens, no!" Lucia cried quickly, taking the bear off of her face and looking at her friend. She then sighed. "Maybe if I had known earlier… maybe. But not now…. I could always give it in adoption."

Amelia could see the confusion in her friends face. "You know, if you decided to keep it… It would be pretty cool, don't you think?" she asked as she leaned back on the bed.

"If I kept it..." She drew circles over her belly, her eyes lost in the ceiling. She had thought that the small bump on her abdomen was because of all the ice cream she had been almost inhaling daily, but now that she knew it was a baby… It made her almost shiver feeling the slight curving of her own body. She imagined herself, cradling a baby with green eyes and a few strands of soft auburn hair. Felicia teaching it how to draw… She would teach her or him how to cook and Amelia would take them to amusement parks and ride the really scary rides which she wouldn't even approach. Alice could teach them how to drink tea like a lady or a gentleman.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked looking slightly alarmed.

Only then did Lucia realize she was crying and smiling like a fool. "I… I think I'll keep it." she replied with a soft smile.

"Oookay. Yeah, hormones are some creepy shit." Amelia laughed as she quickly took a picture with her phone.

It took a few seconds for Lucia to react to what had just happened.

"Amelia… Did you just take a photo?" she asked dangerously, glaring at the blond.

"... Nooo?" she tried lying, with a toothy smile.

"GIVE ME THAT PHONE RIGHT NOW, AMELIA JONES!" Lucia screeched as she threw herself on the blond.

"IT'S TO PROVE TO PEOPLE YOU CAN SMILE!" the American replied laughing, trying to keep the phone away from the furios girl.

"LIES! I DON'T SMILE! I AM A FUCKING ROCK!" the smaller woman yelled, laughing hysterically.

Amelia 'ooomphed' as the Italian sat on top of her and quickly worked on her blue phone. "You only won because I was soft with you!" Amelia whined as she tried getting her friend off.

Lucia let out a bark of a laugh and leaned more weight on her friend. "Yeah right. I could whoop your ass even if I was already 8 months preggy." she declared as she finally found the photo. "Aha! Now erase and…."

However, just then, the blond tried to escape once again, making the Italian fumble with the phone. "Oh… Oh crap." she muttered as the color on her face drained.

The American turned up, hope shining on her face. "Please. Please tell me you sent it to all my contacts."

"I-I don't know… Fix it, Amelia! Fix it!" she squealed handing her the phone once more. Well, more like throwing it at her.

"Okay, okay! Just please get off me!" Amelia wheezed.

The Italian quickly did what her friend asked and looked at her eagerly as Amelia looked at the phone's screen.

"Well.. you actually just sent it to our high school group…. And most of the e-mails don't work, anyway… Oh." and she fell silent.

"Oh? Oh? OH?! What does 'oh' mean?!" she asked worriedly.

"You sent it to Antonio." the American explained, looking up at her friend.

With a grunt, Lucia let herself fall back. "Fucking. Beautiful." she muttered as she hit her friend with a pillow. "I'm blaming you for this."

"The fuck? You were the one who clicked it!"

"You were the one who took the photo, bastard!"

Amelia smiled slightly to herself. At least Lucia seemed to be recovering well and maybe not today or tomorrow… But her friend would be okay. And that lifted a tremendous weight of her chest.

* * *

Antonio was walking in the chilly city night, looking for a convenience store. They were out of milk and Marie wanted to prepare something for them.

He felt the phone vibrate and looked down at it. It was a mail from 'allhailtheheroe' and he wasn't really sure who that was. "Oh! Maybe it's Gil's new mail!" he concluded with a smile to himself. He quickly opened the mail and had the image start loading. He looked up as he crossed the street, the phone still in his hand. As soon as he was on the other side he looked down.

And froze.

Looking up at him from the screen, with a beautiful smile that even had tears brimming her eyes, was Lucia. His heart stopped. She looked like she'd just seen the most adorable thing in her life… And it broke his heart a bit more.

He quickly typed something into his phone and after thinking it for a second, erased the message.

He didn't feel like eating anything anymore.

* * *

_A.N.: I know this chapter is a bit long, but I just couldn't find a point to cut it. _  
_Why is Antonio so sad? Maybe something else happened :'3_


End file.
